


The Rending of Innocence

by GVNART



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Character Death, Explicit Language, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GVNART/pseuds/GVNART
Summary: When N'Zoth began his invasion with the Black Empire, one of Westfall's most dedicated defenders was among the first causalities. Her son, Isaac, is left to take care of her. Unaware of her deteriorating condition until it is too late.





	The Rending of Innocence

Isaac grips onto the reins of his horse, guiding him onwards down the rocky path. It’s hooves clip and clop, occasionally jumping at a simple creature running by. A rabbit sprints from one side of the road to the other. The horse whines, spooked as its front legs kick out in surprise.  
  
“Easy!” Isaac calls out, reaching over to pet alone the poor creature’s mane. He stands a middling height in his human form with a revolver tucked into a holster attached to his belt. He figures the human form helps keep some weight off the horse while riding. “Easy, Gideon… It’s alright boy.” He leans back into the saddle, one hand steering the horse as the other grips on a satchel. “We have to get this medicine to mom. Can’t do that if you throw me on my butt.”  
  
Tess had gone on a bounty job a few weeks back. She was hit with some manner of spell by a cultist operating further into Stranglethorn. While she was fine at first and completed her objective, her condition deteriorated. The local doctors explained that everything should be okay, but they had detected some void trying to stay within her. It should be purged within the coming weeks.  
  
They continue into Westfall, arriving at the Hodnett ranch. Isaac brings Gideon to a post up against the house, tying the reigns around it. The horse stomps its hooves against the dirt, snorting at the teen. He turns towards him, confused. He sees fear in the animal’s eyes, wanting to run off somewhere. But he couldn’t pinpoint why. “It’s okay boy. I’ll bring you into the fences once ma’s got everything. You can run around, or whatever. Do horse things.”  
  
The horse continues whining as Isaac steps up the porch and enters the home, turning the knob and kicking his boots away. “Mom!” He announces his presence. “I got the stuff you need! It was, uhh… Peacebloom, and… Light-y healing goop stuff.” He pulls a vial from his belt, giving it a shake. The insides sparkle with a golden glow, flakes of white delicately bouncing around within as if without gravity.  
  
He turns the knob on the door to Tess’ room, quietly stepping in on the ball of his heel. He sees her on the bed, every part of her covered in blankets besides her head against the pillow. Her eyes are practically bolted shut, face occasionally twitching with discomfort at even the most subtle of noises.  
  
Shutting the door, Isaac pops the cork off the vial. “Do you feel any better since last time?” He asks, hovering over the bed. Offering the potion to her.  
  
Her hand just barely manages to reach up to push his aside, with as much strength as she can muster. Rejecting it. “Isaac.” Her voice croaks out from her throat. “I’m fine. Thank you.”  
  
Isaac raised a curious brow, running a hand through the back of his orange hair. “Y-You… You look terrible. I’m sorry.” He sticks his arm out once more. Closer, the vial right in front of her face. “Just take it. You’ll feel better soon, I’m sure.”Once more, Tess pushes his hand out the way. “I told you. I don’t need it.”  
And once more, Isaac protests. “Mom. You--”  
  
She grips his wrist somewhat harshly, pulling him close with a hiss. “Isaac.” She growls with effort before her eyes open. She looks over the boy, seeing fear painted on his face, his eye widened and jaw open. Not expecting such a rough reaction from his usual calm and collected mother. She releases his arm and falls back to the bed, wiping her eyes off. “Gods, I’m so sorry, pumpkin… I-I don’t know what got into me.”  
  
Isaac stands near with caution, keeping his hands close to his own chest. “I-I think you should take it still.” He repeats. “You’re not yourself. Especially the past few days.”  
Tess sighs, not answering the medicine. “Who even told you to bring that stuff to me?”  
  
“... You did? The doctors as well, but you were there.” He tries reminding her, confusion plentiful in his tone.  
  
She stares at the ceiling, pursing her lips and furrowing her brows while trying to recall such a memory. She eventually gives up and lays back against the mattress. “Fine. Just pour it down the hatch.”  
  
Isaac gives to relief, shoulders relaxing as he steps close. He holds the vial over her mouth, offering. “Say ‘aaaaah.’”  
  
Tess sighs but manages a smile on her face despite her weak, terrible condition. “Aaaaah…” She sticks her tongue out, mouth open. Without wasting time, Isaac gently pours the contents of the vial inside. Once all in, she struggles to swallow but eventually pulls through.  
  
“How does it taste?” Isaac asks, making small conversation while taking off his holster, setting the gun and the belt on a shelf.  
  
Tess smacks her lips a few times before speaking. “Like how Gideon smells.”  
  
They both laugh, Isaac’s youthful and cheerful. Tess’ hoarse and weakened, but still full of her bright, strong joy. She feels tension inside of her with her illness, the void in her body trying to fight the medicine. But she tries to pull through. If not for herself, then for him.  
  
“Hey, darlin’.” She asks, leaning up to place a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for lashing out like that. You’re right.”  
  
Isaac turns his head to face her, a calm smile greeting his face. He reaches his own hand on top of her’s. “It’s okay. I know the void does weird stuff to people. Especially when you’re not used to it.”  
  
Tess nods, unable to describe the sheer relief she feels in hearing he understands. “Right… Hey, look. I haven’t checked on the crops and the barn lately. Ya mind taking a look before the sun goes down?”  
  
Isaac steps back and nods, determined. “Will do! I’ll be a minute, but I should be back around dinner. I’ll cook… Uhhh…” He scratches his chin, pondering what he will be able to make.  
  
Tess shakes her head, slumping her head on the pillow once more. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo.” She tells him, settling underneath her blanket once more. “Just head on out there. We’ll figure out what we’re in the mood for later.”  
  
Isaac sighs, giving in and stepping back. “Alright. I’ll see you later then, yeah?” He asks, heading for the door to the room. He hangs on to the knob, checking in one final time. His tone laced in concern and care.  
  
Tess shows her teeth in a smile, struggling to keep it up. “Of course, pumpkin. Stay safe out there. I love you.”  
  
Isaac smiles, stepping through the door frame. “I love you too.” Is the last thing he says to her before the door clicks shut. The sound of the wood creaking in the home echoes through the walls as he makes his way back outside, becoming more distant as he wanders further away until the front door is shut. Tess leans back, forcing her eyes closed. Something inside her boils deep within her gut, as if repressed for the entirety of Isaac’s small visit it was hiding. Waiting for a chance to burst.  
  
Within a moment, her jaw is forced open. Void tendrils shoot from her throat and out her mouth, spitting the golden colored medicine out from her mouth and all over the nearby wall. Rejecting it. She chokes for a few seconds as the tentacles pouring from her mouth writhe and wiggle around, her eyes turned a harsh, glowing violet. They soon retreat back inside her, crawling away and disappearing out of sight. But she could feel it’s presence within her. Taunting her.  
  
“D-Don’t lay a hand on him...” She manages to speak, pleading with the entity buried deep in her soul. Taking over her own will with every passing second.  
  
She cannot hear or comprehend the entity in it’s full form. But all she feels as a reply was something akin to a sinister laugh. Telling her what it was going to do to him. And that she was going to have to watch every second of it before she joins him.

* * *

The sun begins setting on Westfall as Isaac finishes tying up a hay bale, it’s orange glow pulling down the shadows of night with it. He rolls the bale over towards the barn right next to the house, setting it inside before shutting it. He makes sure every tool is accounted for while he is at it. First the rake, the hoe, the scythe for cutting down grass and plants that grows too tall, the harvester he was working on reviving, and the hunting rifle he would fire off to scare any predators away from ruining the crops.  
  
He shuts the barn door, satisfied, and locks it from the inside. He gleefully jogs over to the house once more, opening the front door and taking off his boots before he tracks mud all over the home. He washes his hands, scrubbing all the dirt away as he calls towards the hall. “Ma’! Everything’s all cleaned up. I fed the cows, so don’t worry about it tomorrow mornin’.”  
  
He waits for a reply as he shuts the water off. He would have been convinced that she was merely tired, still recovering from her sickness, if not for the heavy thump against the floor ahead of him, down the hall. He peers around the corner of the wall and calls again. “Mom?”  
  
This time he is greeted with another thump and a distant groan. He jolts at the voice, recognizing at his mother’s but more twisted and distorted. Something about this did not feel right to him. Something in the air told his basic instincts to run. But he was not going to leave his sick mother alone to suffer whatever was going on with her.  
  
He shifts into his worgen form, fur sprouting from his skin and his nose shifting into his more trusty snout. He inhales the air, smelling the pure form of void. Though to him, it smelled like something was burning. Not only that, but the scent itself felt as dangerous and threatening as it was alluring. It beckoned for him to come, despite everything in his body wanting to take Tess out of there and run. “Mom! Are you alright?”  
  
This time he is greeted with nothing. Only an unnatural, unsettling silence that manages to overpower even the noises from the animals of the night that chirp away outside the home. Isaac feels a coldness swelling in his gut while he makes his way down the hall. Each step forces the wood to groan under his weight, giving him no way to hide he was coming. He reaches Tess’ room, his clawed hands gripping around the knob. “M-Mom?” He mutters a final time as the door nudges open with his slow, fearful push. Once it is open enough to see, he finds Tess turned away from his view towards a corner. She is standing for the first time in days, her back straight and her posture unnaturally plain. With none of the gusto or strength she usually displays with a casual, friendly demeanor. She doesn’t move an inch, not even appearing to be breathing. Just… Standing there.  
Isaac clears his throat in case it was not already clear he was there. “Mom?”  
  
Silence fills the air while he waits. For an answer, for her to turn around and face him, anything at this point. “M-Mom… You’re kinda freaking me out.” He finally speaks again, eyeing her up and down for the first time, paying attention. Her skin seems much more grey, her veins purple. A faint glow comes from her face, shining around her cheeks and against the wall. Even like this, she was massive and imposing. But now it was just uncanny. Like someone just copied her visible aspects and put it out in the world. But the shambling body created lacked any personality.  
  
Isaac takes a step away from the room, the wood floor creaking beneath him. At that, she turns just slightly, enough so that Isaac could see a tiny part of her face. “Isaac.” She speaks in a voice that just barely sounds like her. “Why don’t you come here. I need to show you something.”  
  
He refuses to move. His claws dig into the carpet beneath his pawed feet, like at any moment he could be yanked off of it. He doesn’t even know what to say. How to say it. Seconds pass before he speaks again. “... I-I’m gonna go back to the kitchen. Start on dinner.”  
  
Tess turns even more, showing her lips. They appear cold and blue, corpselike. Veins strain against her skin the same way glass cracks when hit, threatening to burst out. “Isaac.” She repeats. “I have a gift for you. Come here.”  
  
Isaac doesn’t budge. He decides to step away. “... Mom, do we need more medicine? You look awful--”  
  
Before he can even finish, a tendril wraps around his throat and yanks him into the room. The door slams behind him, causing paintings and portraits decorating the wall to fall off at the force. Tess finally looks to Isaac, completely riddled with void. Her arm morphs into the tentacle constraining her son, lifting him off his feet as he chokes. “Is that any way to speak of your mother, boy?” Her voice echoes in his mind as he struggles, kicking the air.  
  
He lifts his hand and slashes his claws across the tentacle, ripping it open and spurting black blood all over the floor. Whatever possesses Tess shrieks, dropping the boy on the ground as the tendril retracts back into the shape of a normal arm. Isaac crawls back and opens the door, running down the hall in a panic. He stops at the end of it, trying to piece together what is even happening. Why was Tess doing this? Was this even his mother? If so, what did it do to her?  
  
“Mom, stop!” He calls, facing where he ran from as she emerges from the room. Her figure becomes more distorted as it morphs into something more monstrous and inhuman. Spikes grow from her spine like quills, her teeth grow larger and more sharp to the point where they extend past her lips. “Come. Here.” That thing demands once again.  
  
Isaac reaches behind himself, gripping onto an orb. He extends it in front of him, revealing the object to be a magic globe in the shape of Azeroth. It casts a teleportation spell, charging up with the energy around himself. He envisions a safe place nearby, somewhere he can take shelter and try to work things out from there.  
  
Tess senses this and charges a spell of her own. A bolt of void energy aims right at the globe, firing and hoping to break it before it is casted. The magic volley slings towards the boy out of her hand with minimal movement or effort on her part.  
  
Isaac shuts his eye as the void creeps closer to him, nearly impacting him. But before either of them know it, a blue flash and a shimmer sends Isaac out of the house. Arcane particles gently glide down towards the ground like specks of ash from a flame, showing no sign of the boy once taking its place. The beast roars in frustration while continuing to mutate in shape, sensing out the nearest signs of life.

Isaac falls into the barn, slamming into a wet pile of mud. Shards of the orb fall around him too, shattered in the blast, but utilized just in time to get one last use out of it. Enough to buy him some time. But now it is gone, and there is no escape. He will just have to deal with the consequences later.  
  
The moon rises further than it had minutes ago, painting everything not lit by a flame in pure darkness. That dark claustrophobic intensity was only accentuated by the dark presence elsewhere on the property. The boy stands back on his feet, wiping his fur off of the mud so that he could at least see around him. He feels the evil presence creeping closer to the barn, sniffing him out. He believes himself to be safe enough to make a run for it until he finally hears--  
  
“Isaac.” A monstrous, unholy voice echoes in his mind. “You can’t hide. I can smell your fear.”  
  
He stops in place, trying to pinpoint an exact location of the voice. He can’t find or hear wherever it is. Just that it is nearby. He backs up against the wall in fear that at any moment, that thing could appear right behind him. “I don’t know who, o-or what, you are… But you are gonna let her go.”  
  
The voice laughs, unimpressed. “I’ve watched entire cities crumble beneath me. Families slaughtered by my hand.” Whispers fill his head, coming from all directions and whipping around him. Always elusive, never in one solid place. It leaves the young boy confused as he catches his breath against the wall. “You will just be another one lost. You will be mine.”  
  
“You won’t… I-I won’t let you! Neither of us!” He cries out in defiance. “Get the hell off our ranch!”  
  
Just as Isaac finishes speaking, he hears something right behind him smash. Tess’ arm reaches through and puts him in a chokehold, keeping him pinned as she attempts to break through. “Quite a mouth for a young one. I will enjoy this.” Isaac struggles and gasps for air, swinging his claws around to no avail. He opens his mouth and snarls, biting into her arm. His teeth rip through the flesh, the whispers filling his mind the further he rips and tears. Blood spurts to the ground until she finally releases him, her arm immediately healing with the power of the void surging through her veins. Isaac runs off, spitting the blood from his mouth while grabbing the rifle in the barn off the wall. He cocks the weapon back, ensuring it was loaded. One bullet lays in the metal chamber.  
  
He aims it at the wall, lining up the barrel with the form of the beast. It rips multiple holes into the wood until the structure is weak enough to smash through. Shards of wood are sent flying in every direction as it roars, breaking through and standing tall above him. He keeps his aim true, looking down the sights without faltering. His one eye focuses on the target, putting his finger over the trigger. And just when he sees the monster’s figure shambling towards him, eyes dead set on him…  
  
He hesitates. He sees his mother walking towards him, her body being puppeteered by some force outside of her control. How could he shoot her? What if there was a better solution? What if he ended up hurting her?  
  
Tess growls as her fingers extend into the shape of claws. She stomps towards him, grunting out an inhuman sound of exertion. The monster looks at Isaac like prey, wanting to rip him piece to piece and devour him. Maybe even turn him, if he would prove resilient enough.  
  
His hands shake with the loaded weapon still aimed, his mouth opening to plea. “Mom! St-Stop!”  
  
The beast doesn’t hesitate. It swings its arms, throwing a bale of hay in the boy’s direction. He ducks and falls on his back just in time to miss it, gun still aimed while he pushes himself back with his legs. “Please!” He begs again, pinning himself up against a wooden beam.  
  
The monster just laughs, coming out as a terrible low growl. It stalks closer to him, getting far too close for comfort. It stands just feet away with no sign of slowing down. “Please stop!” Isaac begs one final time, shutting his eye as tears well up, clenching his jaw to brace. He hears those footsteps stalking closer and closer, thudding against the mix of hay and mud.  
  
Finally, he pulls the trigger. The gun recoils into his shoulder, the muzzle flashing as a bullet rams itself into the monster’s stomach. Isaac still looks away, dropping the gun on the ground and holding his arms out in front of himself. His breathing doesn’t calm until the quiet settles, that overwhelming presence disappearing. Then finally, he opens his eye. And before him, Tess stands.  
  
The void leaves her body, drifting off into the air. The monstrous features, the claws, the gnarled teeth, all fade away, giving way to her original form. The sickening violet glow from her skin and eyes disappear, left only with a gaze of weakness and drained energy. As if waking up for a second, she looks up to her son. Her eyes tired and weary, full of pain for him. And then they both look down. Both of them noticing at the same time the hole in her gut, pierced through by the gunshot.  
  
Her gaze reaches back towards her son, her bloody hands reaching out towards him. “Isaac…” She only manages a single step before she falls flat on the ground. Motionless. Continuously bleeding out.  
  
He stares in shock, not believing what was unfolding in front of him. He doesn’t even process most of what just happened until she trips over. And all at once, it hits him. The guilt acting as a weight, dragging him down by his shoulders. He quickly scurries over on his knees, hovering over her body. “Mom…Mom!?” He calls for her, shaking her by the shoulder to get some reaction. Nothing comes. She only lays there, her glazed over eyes showing no signs of life.  
  
“No…N-No no no no no!” He yells at the realization. At the results of what he has done. “Get up!” He continues shaking her, placing his hand over her wound to put pressure on it. But to no avail. She continues laying there, no longer with this side of the world.  
  
The young boy freezes, alone in the barn. His bloodied hands once more shake in fear and hatred. All aimed at himself for causing this. For pulling the trigger so abruptly. All in one day, the last surviving family member he knew was gone.  
  
Isaac chokes on his own breath, tears dripping off his fur and onto the ground. “Don’t… Don’t fucking leave me, please.” He sobs, clenching onto her cold hand. “Not like this… Please, mom… I can’t lose you…”  
  
He stays seated there for minutes that may as well have been days from his perspective. He cradles her corpse in his arms, hoping that at any moment she will just wake up. That at any moment, a chance will present itself to bring her back. Instead, nothing hopeful comes. Only the dread sinking in for Isaac that this was not a nightmare. Everything he just did was permanent. And that he will never be able to atone for it.  
  
The ground beneath them morphs in shape and color, causing him to yelp and jump back away from Tess, leaving her on the ground. A lilac-colored pool of tar forms beneath her, making way for something to emerge from it. Various piles of disgusting slag come in humanoid shapes, pulling themselves into the real world enough to show their dripping heads and fingers. And with them, comes the scent of the void. That oppressive, terrifying aura that only promises corruption and destruction.  
  
They grab Tess’ body, dragging her into the tar until she is swallowed whole. Isaac only watches helplessly as she disappears, the figures pulling her down. Once she disappears, the void leaves the ranch. The tar is no longer visible and Isaac is left alone. All alone with nobody to help him. To comfort him. Even to chastise him and ask him what in the hell he was thinking when he pulled that trigger. What he was doing when he fired the gun that single-handedly killed the last remaining, blood related family member he had. That everything he did was his own fault. Instead, such thoughts were trapped in his mind. Isolated to torment himself with. At that thought coming to fruition, he brings himself to his knees. He takes one last look at all the blood on his hands, dripping off his fur. He opens his mouth.  
  
And the final thing heard from the Hodnett Ranch that night was a traumatized, petrifying scream.


End file.
